Geographical Details of Iceland

Iceland is a rather large island with a size of 103,000 square kilometers (39,768 square miles) and is situated directly under the polar circle, with a shortest distance of 280 kilometers from Greenland, 420 kilometers of the Faroes and 800 kilometers away from Scotland. With a population of bit more about 338,000 people Iceland is the most thinly settled state of Europe. Over half of the Icelanders live in the region of the capital Reykjavik.

Position and surface area

Iceland is sutuated in the North Atlantic Ocean between the 63rd und 66th °N and 13th und 24th °W. The shortest distance to Greenland is about 286 kilometers and 950 kilometers to Norway.

Position:

North

66°32´29´´ N

South

63°23´31´´ N

East

13°30´06´´ W

West

24°32´12´´ W

Iceland has a similar area as the state Virginia in the USA or aout 80% of the area of England.

Total area: 103,000 km²

Total area including fishery: 758,000 km²

Main island: 102,700 km²

Wasteland

62.6 %

cultivated area

1.5 %

Greater Reykjavik

1.0 %

Grassland

1,3 %

Lakes

2,9 %

Forest

1,5 %

Glaciers

11,6 %

Lava

11 %

Coastline:

Küstenlinie:

6,088 km

Topographic details

The largest islands beside the main island:

Heimaey (Westman Islands)

13.4 km²

Hrísey (Eyjarförður)

8.0 km²

Hjörsey (Mýrar, Faxafloí)

5.5 km²

Grímsey (North Iceland)

5.3 km²

Flatey (Skjálfandi bay)

2.8 km²

Málmey (Skagafjörður)

2.4 km²

Papey (Southeast coast)

2.0 km²

Viðey (Bay of Reykjavik)

1.7 km²

Surtsey (Westman Islands)

1.7 km²

The largest lakes and their max. depth:

Þórisvatn *

88 km²

113 m

Þingvallavatn

83 km²

114 m

Lögurinn

53 km²

112 m

Mývatn

37 km²

4 m

Hvítárvatn

30 km²

85 m

Langisjór

26 km²

73 m

Skorradalsvatn

15 km²

57 m

Svínavatn

12 km²

39 m

Öskjuvatn

11 km²

217 m

Jökulsárlón

8 km²

260 m

* Due to structural measures Þórisvatn is the largest lake of Iceland today. But the largest natural lake is Þingvallavatn.

The longest rivers and their watersheds:

Þórsá

230 km

7,500 km²

Jökulsá á Fjöllum

206 km

7,850 km²

Hvítá/Ölfusá

185 km

6,100 km²

Skjálfandafljót

178 km

3,950 km²

Glaciers and Ice caps:

Vatnajökull

8,300 km²

Landjökull

953 km²

Hofsjökull

925 km²

Mýrdalsjökull

596 km²

Drangajökull

160 km²

Eyjafallajökull

78 km²

Tungnafellsjökul

48 km²

Snæfellsjökull

11 km²

All glaciers

11,922 km²

The highest and most importent mountains:

Hvannadalshnúkur

2,119 m

Báðarbunga

2,000 m

Kverkfjöll

1,920 m

Snæfell

1,833 m

Hofsjökull

1,765 m

Herðubreið

1,682 m

Eiriksjökull

1,675 m

Eyjafjallajökull

1,666 m

Hekla

1,491 m

Mýrdalsjökull

1,480 m

Snæfellsjökull

1,446 m

The highest and most important waterfalls:

Morsárfoss

227 m

Glymur

190 m

Háifoss

122 m

Hengifoss

110 m

Seljalandsfoss

65 m

Skógafoss

62 m

Dettifoss

44 m

Gullfoss

32 m

Ófærufoss

26 m

Goðafoss

12 m

Öxaráfoss

10 m

Svartifoss

8 m

The Population of Iceland

Iceland has about 338,000 inhabitants, which is nearly similar to the city of New Orleans in the USA or Leicester in England. The densely populated area of Iceland is Greater Reykjavik. The share of foreign nationals is about 0.10 percent.

The following table shows the geographical population distribution in Iceland. (Last update: 01.01.2017)